The Thoughts and Writing of Robert Wherry

2017 Winter February 5 Sunday

Dressed too warm this morning, forgot how “warm” 38 degrees is. Weather said “feels like 30”, but a lot of the walk has trees, houses etc. that block the wind. Pace was relatively slow, about 20 seconds more than the “average”.

Of course, technically speaking, the “average” changes every day, so maybe I should use the term “expectation” of what my pace will be.

Read an article in a “Future Trends” type newsletter, discussing “Artificial Intelligence” and the impact in the future. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is generally defined as use of computers, technology, network sensors, robotics etc. and the use of biotech and nanotech. (I may not have that exactly, but it is what I got from the article).

Generally the article was very positive about it, basically that it would actually increase the effectiveness of workers and make them more effective, generally leading to an increase in jobs, by increasing what the worker can do.

Makes sense to me. The example given was the ATM machine has actually INCREASED the number of tellers. ATM’s were expected to eliminate tellers, but instead they increased Tellers, since ATM’s decreased the cost of bank branches, leading to more branches.

Also, and it seems more important to me, it increased what the Tellers could do (develop more of a personal relationship with customers, add more products etc.).

In a way, it almost bought the “small town bank” experience I remember when you came in and sat down and talked to the banker.

They also mentioned how AI could, for example, assist workers in making better decisions by provided vast data bases (my term) that literally provide detailed answers to a wide variety of situations and provides detailed instructions on how to solve problems. That is probably more exciting than almost any other aspect of AI.

It “learns” from it’s answers so when a similar question is made, it becomes even more efficient

Maintenance manuals etc., are an especially valuable example where AI could really be valuable, or operational manuals.

I wish I had something like that for my job (instructions for a variety of operations required), it would save A LOT of time!

Another aspect is that machines (including robots) and people working together can greatly increase the persons productivity and interest. AI does the tasks it can do well and the people can do the part people can do best.

Another example is “self driving” vehicles etc. that will release the drivers to be productive in other ways. If you think of all the time spent on “driving”, it could substantially increase productivity, especially if internet capacity is available.

Along with that I have read how robots are increasingly used for things like assisting the disabled, senior citizens (picking up things, even doing the laundry!). This wasn’t really mentioned in the article, but i think it will also increase the productively of health workers etc.

They also mention that AI may return some manufacturing to the United States as AI reduces the cost of manufacturing to complete with low wages else.

All exciting to say the least and I see more examples of it all the time.

A minor example is “mobile ordering” at Starbucks. It saves about 10 minutes of time, depending on how long the line is. Of course, if you didn’t stop anyway, you would save even more time and money but that isn’t the point! Again, one factor is they don’t always quite get your order correctly, whereas a human you can “real time” clarify your order!